Bin Laden's Son Says Sea Burial "Demeaned" His Family

Son says bin Laden sea burial demeans family: report


Reuters – Omar Bin Laden during a January 2008 interview with Reuters in a Cairo suburb. REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih


LONDON (Reuters) – A statement purporting to come from a son of Osama bin Laden denounced the al Qaeda leader's killing as "criminal" and said his burial at sea had humiliated the family, an online monitoring service said.

The statement, attributed to Omar bin Laden, bin Laden's fourth eldest son, said the al Qaeda chief's children reserved the right to take legal action in the United States and internationally to "determine the true fate of our vanished father," the SITE Intelligence Group said.

There was no independent confirmation of the authenticity of the letter, published on the website of Islamist ideologue Abu Walid al-Masri, although several specialists on militant propaganda said the text appeared genuine.

Omar bin Laden, who has been based in the Gulf in recent years, did not immediately respond to emailed and telephoned requests for comment.

The letter said, in part: "We hold the American President (Barack) Obama legally responsible to clarify the fate of our father, Osama bin Laden, for it is unacceptable, humanely and religiously, to dispose of a person with such importance and status among his people, by throwing his body into the sea in that way, which demeans and humiliates his family and his supporters and which challenges religious provisions and feelings of hundreds of millions of Muslims."

The letter said the U.S. administration had offered no proof to back up its account of the mission. It alleged the goal of raid had been to kill and not arrest, adding that afterwards the American commandos had "rushed to dispose of the body."

Some Muslims have misgivings about how U.S. forces killed bin Laden in a raid in Pakistan on May 2 and disposed of his body in the ocean.

Questions have multiplied since the White House said the al Qaeda leader was unarmed when U.S. helicopter-borne commandos raided the villa where he was hiding in the city of Abbottabad.

Bin Laden's swift burial at sea, in what many Muslims say was a violation of Islamic custom, has also stirred anger.

(Editing by Myra MacDonald)

"We hold the American President (Barack) Obama legally responsible to clarify the fate of our father, Osama bin Laden, for it is unacceptable, humanely and religiously, to dispose of a person with such importance and status among his people, by throwing his body into the sea in that way, which demeans and humiliates his family and his supporters and which challenges religious provisions and feelings of hundreds of millions of Muslims."

femme fatale wrote:Let me just put it out there that Omar Bin Laden needs to be watched after making that statement.

alan smithee wrote:... I think the proper response would be for us to televise Pres. Obama reading this statement to the country. And then cracking up. Along with the rest of the room. ...

Osama Bin Laden's prodigal son Omar says President Obama no better than Al Qaeda leader after strike
BY Helen Kennedy
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Tuesday, May 10th 2011, 3:26 PM




Osama Bin Laden's son complained Tuesday that his father was summarily executed - if he's really dead - and demanded proof from President Obama.

"We are not convinced on the available evidence in the absence of [a] dead body," said Omar Bin Laden, 30, who said he was speaking for his many brothers.

The son, who long ago denounced his father's murderous ways, said Obama was no better than the terrorist.

"As [I] condemned our father, we now condemn the President of the United States for ordering the execution of unarmed men and women," Omar Bin Laden wrote.

The wife of one of Osama Bin Laden's couriers was killed in the May 1 raid, along with two couriers; Osama, and Osama's son Khalid.

Omar Bin Laden wrote in a statement to The New York Times that his father should have been given a fair trial and the presumption of innocence. He also griped that Osama's body was dumped at sea and not returned to the family for burial.

"We maintain that arbitrary killing is not a solution to political problems," he said.

He demanded answers in 30 days and threatened to go to an international court, saying he is putting together a panel of British lawyers.

Omar Bin Laden also demanded that Pakistan free his father's three widows, who were detained after the raid.

Washington says Pakistan has promised to give the U.S. access to them, although Pakistani officials appeared to deny that Tuesday. The CIA is eager to question them, hoping to learn who was helping the terror mastermind.

Omar Bin Laden and his mother, Najwa Bin Laden, co-wrote a memoir, "Growing Up Bin Laden," in 2009. They both left Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan just before 9/11.

The book provided information about the three detained widows' lives. They are:

- Amal al-Sadah, 29, Bin Laden's youngest wife, a Yemeni who married him in 2000. She was in bed with her husband when the SEALs burst in. She was shot in the leg.

- Khairiah Sabar, a Saudi Arabian who has a doctorate in Islamic law and was trained to educate children who can't hear or speak. She married Bin Laden in 1985. They have a son, Hamza, 20, who may have escaped the compound.

- Siham Sabar, another Saudi, who married Bin Laden in 1987. They have four children, and she is called Um Khalid, or "mother of Khalid."